CSU to host international earth building conference

Thursday 19 Oct 2017

Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga will
host the Earth Building Association of Australia (EBAA) international conference
from Thursday 2 to Monday 6 November.

This annual event brings together local and
international earth building experts and will be an opportunity for the
University to highlight its leadership and teaching of earth building and
sustainability.

"The rammed earth buildings completed between 1995 and
2000 at Charles Sturt University in Albury-Wodonga represented an important
green-fields environmental design when it wasn't widely practiced," Professor
Spennemann said.

"The University's leadership in sustainability made
the conference an obvious fit to bring together experts and to show that the
University was committed to sustainability teaching that is backed up by
action.

"As an educational institution, it is important that Charles
Sturt University not only focuses on its teaching but also works with industry
to action the theory we teach.

"By hosting the conference, we have the opportunity to
talk to environmental building industry stakeholders and showcase the
sustainable building techniques and materials used at CSU in Albury-Wodonga."

Professor Spennemann will also be discussing his
research into the decay processes that buildings go through over time, to
better understand how to build and manage them.

"Research is showing that modern rammed earth
buildings withstand decay very well. When looking at historical and modern
buildings, there are some decay processes that have similarities, but there are
critical differences.

"The past can provide lessons that can be heeded to
better build and manage significant buildings," Professor Spennemann said.

Over three days, participants will receive hands-on learning
across construction, mud bricks, rendering finishing. They will also hear from
leading architects, academics, engineers and industry contractors who will talk
about the latest developments in design, and the optimisation of materials that
match climate.

On the fourth and last day of the conference, CSU
in Albury-Wodonga will invite participants to tour the university's rammed
earth buildings. Collectively, the buildings form the largest complex of rammed
earth buildings in Australia and were designed by architect Marci Webster-Mannison
and CSU.